Hight of Power
by Setsuna F. Satoru
Summary: Sorry I couldn't put this in the actual topic, but this is actually a crossover of three anime: Code Geass, Death Note, and Gundam 00. This is a what happens after the end of each of those stories, and how they twine together.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: This is a crossover of my three favorite anime ever—Code Geass, Death Note, and Gundam 00. However, to fit these together, I have to mess with some of the stories' plots.

First: Code Geass and Death Note occur at exactly the same time. Code Geass is more concerned with a large scale, worldwide politics, while Death Note is fairly local. Light Yamaguchi's home city is in Area 11, not Japan, and Light is a Britannian citizen in a Britanian school. In fact every character in Death Note is Britannian.

Second: the events of Gundam 00 occurred 15 years ago, just before the beginning of Lelouch's father's reign. In fact, the very end of that series is the creation of the Empire of Britannia. Celestial Being temporarily lost contact with Earth—they live in a colony in the asteroid belt—and just regained it.

Finally: the events in this story start a few days after the end of Code Geass, and picks up from the moment Death Note leaves off. Also, the terms of the Code Geass Contract change a bit for the sake of this fanfic.

Also, I don't own Gundam, Code Geass, Death Note, or any of the characters in them. This is a work of fan fiction and not for sale.

Chapter 1: Awakening (part 1)

Lelouch Lamperouge awoke suddenly, to the sight of a woman he hadn't seen for two years—and had hoped to never see again.

"You're awake." C.C. said simply.

Memories of the parade came back to him, and he bolted upright.

"Why am I alive?" He asked in that calmly quiet voice he used when he was terrified.

He had arranged for his own death. He could remember the feeling of cold steel sliding between his ribs. By all rights he should be dead. Unless…

"You Immortals tend to stay that way." C.C. responded.

Lelouch's eyes widened, his deepest fears confirmed. He had taken the Code.

He leapt up. A nearby mirror showed his face, now covered by a large duel wing symbol of the Code Geass. He turned towards C.C.

"C.C.," He told her, "I can only be sure of my neutrality in society if I'm dead. There is no way anymore to die without passing on the Geass, is there?"

C.C. looked at him solemnly. "No, there isn't." Then as an after thought, "And _I'm_ mortal now, so call me Cecil."

Lelouch looked walked to the door. "I am going to find someone to enter a Contract. Immediately." He opened it and stepped out.

He needed someone that had no choice. Someone with nowhere else to turn. But also someone that was intelligent, but not too idealist. He needed…

As he walked out the door, a boy about his age bumped into him. Their eyes met for a moment. He saw the boy's eyes were filled with fear. He was running from something. But behind the light of panic was a gleam of intelligence. Then the contact broke and the boy turned a corner and was out of site. Not before Lelouch noticed the gunshots in his chest. He turned and ran after him.

[Change of point of view]

Light and been bested left to die. How could he have been beaten? How? He turned slowly, painfully to look at Ryuk.

"I guess you never got _my _life, Ryuk."

Ryuk shook his head slowly.

" I told you this when you began: when you die, the hand writing your name in the Death Note will be mine."

He calmly took out his Death Not and scrawled the name "Light Yamaguchi" into it. Light's heart fell as his last ally abandoned him.

Four minutes later, his heart failed. As his vision faded though, an apparition appeared, drawing him into it, until he was floating in a world of blues, violets, and greens.

It made it seem rather less evil when he sentenced hundreds of men to death, if this was the death he condemned them to.

Then he became aware of another presence. He turned and saw a man about his age wearing a long black cloak, facing away from him. The swirling energies that made up this world seemed to emanate from him.

Light was about to say something when the man began.

"I can save you."

Light started, at a loss for words. Eventually he found his voice.

"I doubt it."

The man seemed almost pleased by his calm response.

"You don't know what I offer." The man told him.

Light considered this for a moment. "I don't know who you are or where this is. Why do I care what you can offer?"

The man bowed his head, his face still turned away from him. "True. Well, then, how about you call me…L?"

Light was stricken. He staggered back, mouthing his thoughts to himself: but I killed you. You're dead. I know you're dead.

The man who called himself L seemed unaware of Lights horror, and continued.

"Or, actually L.L., I believe my name now is. My significance _is_ that I can save you. Not only that, but I can give you a power beyond your imagination. And all you have to do is agree to a few things."

Light collected himself. This must not be the L he knew. Just a coincidence.

"What things do I have to agree to?" he asked, more calm than he felt.

"You must take on my…condition to fulfill the contract. And," he added, as though he had just thought of it, as if it were an after thought, "you must submit yourself to my power again one more time to fulfill this contract."

Light suddenly remembered that fateful day 2 years ago, in his bedroom, and Ryuk's words to him: 'But when you die, the hand writing your name in the Death Note will be mine.'

Light pushed the thought out of his mind. This was different. He had no choice. It was this or die.

"I agree to those terms." He told the man.

He could have sworn he gave a smile of relief. "Well then. What, might I ask, is your name?"

"Light"

"Light," he said, beginning to turn, "I hereby enter you into the Contract of the Code Geass."

The mysterious L.L. had turned all the way around, and met Light's gaze. As he finished, an odd shape, like the strange tattoo across his face, appeared in his eyes. It steadily grew brighter, until it was blinding. Light couldn't close his eyes or turn away, even though it felt like the symbol was being branded into his left retina. His vision began to fade, and just before he blacked out, he could have sworn he heard the man's—L.L.—voice softly.

"Light, I command you to live."

[Change of point of view]

Lelouch—L.L. now—looked down at the unconscious boy. It had been odd, having that intimate of a bond with someone.

Light opened his eyes, saw L.L. standing over him, and scrambled to his feet, only a second later remembering that he should be dead—or at least in pain.

There were footsteps from a nearby ally. Not wanting to be spotted, L.L. stepped back into the shadows. He needn't have worried. The four people that stepped out were intent on Light. One was only a kid, and they were obviously the ones who had shot Light, as they were brandishing pistols now.

"There you are, Light." The boy with blue hair said. "You couldn't actually believe you would get away like that, did you?" He was smiling a bit maliciously.

"Near, you must be mistaken," Light's voice had taken a desperate tone, and the light of fear appeared again, "I—I—"

"You lost your chance to talk out of this. To think _you_ could have replaced L…"

"Tell them to leave." L.L. interrupted.

They all gaped at him.

"Who are you?" the boy, Near, asked. The men turned their guns to him.

L.L. stepped forward, impatient. "You four, leave us." He said it in a commanding tone. As he did so, the strange symbols appeared in his eyes again.

Light was amazed to see them holster their guns and casually stroll away. He turned to stare at L.L., who was watching them as the left.

"Who are they?" L.L. asked, suspicious. He was begin to doubt if he had chosen the right person.

"They were once friends who turned on me."

"Oh?" Now L.L. was very worried. Light's voice was turning to hatred and disgust. "And why was that?"

A cruel smile played at the edges of Light's mouth.

"I had…a book they did not like."

L.L. began to get a bit panicked Light wasn't just the wrong person, there was something very wrong with him. "What book?"

Light was grinning now. "Death Note." He replied almost reverently.

L.L. was beginning to turn to leave, to leave this mistake behind. But Light wasn't done.

"A book that let me kill anyone, anywhere, in any way." There was a frenzied look on his face. "They couldn't stand that I was to be god, to judge those who I deemed unworthy of life. They couldn't take the idea of a perfect world."

L was suddenly reminded of his mother and father, plotting to bring down the gods. He saw what a terrible miscalculation he had made.

"I never should have let you live," he told Light. "You are insane. The world can rest assured no one will ever be told what power you were given." Then L.L. ran off

[Chang of point of view]

Light-years away, in the realm of the Shinigami, Ryuk was puzzled. An odd sense had come from his Death Note, and when he took it out, he found that Light Yamaguchi's name was disappearing. If Light's name hadn't stayed in the Death Note, well, Light may not have stayed dead. And Ryuk was determined to find out why.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Having just recently reread the plot of Code Geass (it's been a while since I saw the anime) I realized that I also made one other change in Code Geass's plotline. In the original, Lelouch's death occurred two months after the rest of the series. For the purpose of this story, I'm making it two _years_, as I don't believe anything close to the possibility of world peace could be created in just two months. Also, now it lines up with how long Light posed as the "second L" in Death Note. Sorry I didn't notice that the first time through.

Also, for reference, 'Radia' is pronounced 'rah-DEE-uh'.

And (wow, I forgot a lot of things!) this story ignores the Gundam 00 movie.

Chapter 2: Awakening (part 2)

Setsuna awoke suddenly to sound of his room's communicator going off. He crept out of bed slowly, not wanting to wake Feldt. The monitor was blinking red. He picked it up and quietly moved to the hallway. Setsuna touched the screen, confirming that he was present. Sumeragi's face appeared. After a moment she began.

"Alright, you all are present. I have some very important news. We have just regained communication with Tieria Erde and Veda."

Setsuna's eyes widened. Connection between the Beta-Beta-Psi colony—affectionately referred to as the 'Bibps' colony by residents—and Earth had been completely cut off for fifteen years. It had been decided too risky to send someone there, as feelings of hostility were likely too rampant still to risk that kind of operation. On 'Bibps', life had seemed to go on. Children were born, people died, couples got married—like Feldt and Setsuna, and research was done. It had begun to seem like a long-term goal, the promise of a coming salvation. Who would have guessed that such absolute isolation would be broken so suddenly?

"This announcement is being sent to all Gundam Meisters. The situation down there seems really bad. I'm going to turn this over to Tieria Erde."

The screen switched to a man with long purple hair and yellow eyes. Exactly like what Tieria Erde would have looked like if he had aged fifteen years.

"This is much worse than any thing we saw. In only fifteen years, the Union was transformed into an Empire, that has conquered the entire Earth. To tell the truth, that could be very good. The Britannian Empire as they call themselves has very ridged discipline. However the last ruler, a certain Lelouch V Brittannia was extremely corrupt and oppressive. He was assassinated only two days ago and even in the short amount of time he has been dead, the Empire has been thrown into anarchy. Apparently he made efforts to make sure there was not a line of succession. This leads me to believe that he my have had honest intentions; to make sure that he unified the world and when he died no one was powerful enough to be oppressive. However, as we ourselves learned fifteen years ago, this is not an effective method. Celestial Being has been given the perfect chance to right the world, if we can act swiftly and decisively. I am currently working out possible plans to correct the situation on Earth."

Sumeragi's face appeared again.

"We need to have everyone ready when he is ready with one. I've been assured that it will be ready by tomorrow night. Get some rest now, and be prepared for your schedules to be full of 'training' tomorrow. Command Bridge, over and out."

Setsuna tiptoed back into the room and slid back under the covers. To his surprise, Feldt was awake. She was gazing into his eyes and an understanding passed between them. It had been a nice fifteen-year break, but the battle had returned. Setusna turned to avoid her eyes. It was going to be a long time before they would be together properly after this.

[Change of point of view]

L.L. ran back to the door he had left. Apparently, it was an apartment. As he slammed the door behind him and rushed to sit down, his eyes were wide. He was on the verge of hysteria. He hadn't just made the wrong choice; he had made the most awful choice he could have made. That man was sadistic. C.C.—Cecil—sat next to him.

"You made a hasty choice." It wasn't a question.

L.L., in shock, slowly nodded his head.

Why? What was the problem? At times like these, he began to see his life with the Geass as a series of failures. Commanding Nunnally. Losing the trust of the Order of the Black Knights. Shirly's death. Why? What was he doing wrong?

And then it hit him. For the first time in his life he understood his—literally—fatal flaw. Pride. Hubris. He always knew better. His way would always work, and if it didn't, he knew he could improvise better than his opponent.

He took a deep breath. It was surprisingly liberating to know your greatest shortcoming. Now that he knew what the problem was, he could correct it.

He stood up suddenly. If he was going to do this, he might as well start now.

"C.—Cecil, I mean—I…I would like to ask you to postpone your side of the contract. Frankly, I need some guidance from someone who has been in my place. Please, if you would allow yourself to live, I…I would be grateful."

Cecil looked shocked for a moment, then smiled.

"Of course! Did you really think I would abandon you to eternity without _any_ support?" She laughed. "Actually, you probably did think that didn't you?"

L.L. was surprised for a moment. Then, his expression hardened. He knew what he had to do next, and it wasn't going to be so easy.

[Change of point of view]

Light was astonished. For a moment, the man had seemed so familiar. A kindred spirit, of sorts. Then he lost composure. I disgusted him, Light realized. He shrugged. It didn't matter. The strange L.L. had already shown his power. Light would have to get rid of him later.

He walked down the street, pleased. It had been obvious, after a moment's consideration, what the power the man spoke about was. The supreme and utter control over anyone. L.L. didn't need to tell him that, he had already shown him.

He decided to try it out. There was a woman walking by, looking through her purse. He caught up to her and sidled closer.

"Give me twenty dollars, woman." He said to her out of the side of his mouth, not looking over at her.

She raised her head, alarmed. "What, why?" she looked around for his gun, then stopped and walked away, looking back as if to check if he were following.

That was strange. What did he do wrong? He went over what had happened in the alley in his mind. Then he saw it.

This time he went to a man that was on the phone. He turned to look in his eyes this time.

"Gi—" He stopped.

That man, he knew without a doubt, was cheating on his wife. He also shaved money off the accounts he worked with, being an accountant. Distantly, a man had died because of his actions—he had paid off the Mafia when they found out he had taken a bit of their money. With the extra money, the Mafia had bought a few guns and five thousand rounds. When a new boss took over that Mafia, though, one of those guns had been held on to. The person who kept it was killed for resisting the boss, who wanted it.

Light tore his eyes away, breathing hard. He looked up for the first time, glancing into the eyes of the people around him.

That girl was a prostitute. That boy participated regularly in gang rape. That man stole money from an open cashier once. The list went on and on. For Light, it was a parade of all the possible sins of humanity.

He looked down, desperately covering his eyes. What happened? What was this? Was _this _supposed to be the "great power"? This was torture.

He rushed to his apartment. He didn't want to see this. L.L. had cheated him. He ran to the bathroom. Like he always did, to recompose himself, he looked into the mirror.

As he met his own eyes, his left changed. There was the shape the man had had across his face, in red in his own eye.

Suddenly a much more intense feeling came upon him.

Looking into his own eyes, he saw every single one of the hundreds of men he killed. Not only that but he saw the ones he _didn't_ kill—the ones he should have killed, but the crime they committed had been attributed to someone else, an innocent. Not only that, but he saw their families, now ruined. Many were homeless and penniless. Some had members that committed suicide. Some had turned towards drugs or alcohol, which spurred them to commit their own killings. An endless chain of murder, narcotics, and depression. And it was _all his fault_.

He clutched at himself. He clawed at his face. He wailed, He shrieked. He moaned. Nothing could free him. Even once he had sunk into unconsciousness, he was still terrorized by nightmares of himself.

[Change of point of view]

L.L. strode purposefully through the street. He wore the same coat and cape he had worn two days ago at the parade, complete with the bloody hole where the sword went through both sides.

This was the ghetto. No one was going to look at him closely.

He turned into a hanger to his right. This was where it was. It had to be. He noisily slid open a door and stepped inside. Guards yelled. Many seemed to recognize him. After a moment, there were the pops of gunfire. The first few shots missed. Finally, one connected.

L.L. was thrown back, his chest right below his heart bleeding profusely. That hurt a lot more than he expected.

He got up slowly, taking advantage of the break in fire. Then he began to walk again. All the guards' eyes widened.

It took him ten minutes to reach the stairs. The guards, by then, had become used to his immortal status, if still shocked. Now there was no break in fire for him to recuperate.

He slowly climbed the stairs, stopping every so often to recover from a particularly effective shot. When he got to the top, he stopped. He looked down at his body, dripping with blood. His once pure white uniform was now entirely red, nothing but rags hanging off him. He opened the door.

Inside was completely different. The hanger floor was cement, hard and cold. This was a red carpet. The walls were metal in the hanger. Here they were wood paneled.

Sitting at the table in front of him were Suzaku, Villetta Nu, Kallen, and Nunnally. They all turned to look at him and gasped collectively as they recognized him under the blood.

"N-N-Ni-san…" Nunnally trailed off.

Suzaku's mouth was opening and closing.

Kallen and Villetta looked upon him with such hatred he swore he could taste it.

He quelled his initial reaction and bowed his head, by this time almost hunched to the floor already.

"I'm sorry."

The four looked at him uncomprehendingly.

"I ruined all of your lives, and even led to the death of ones you loved. There is nothing I can say that will tell you how sorry I am." He turned to Suzaku. "I killed your, well, she could have been your future wife. I forced you to go against all your morals. In the end, I even made you clean up my mess." He turned to Nunnally. "And you, I turned into…a bargaining chip. In valuing you, I made you a target. I killed your sisters and brothers. I killed your father, even. I even took away your attempt to redeem our family. In the end I made you powerless and enslaved, an example held on a pedestal." Now he turned to Kallen "And you, I defiled what you lived your life for. I perverted and corrupted what your brother fought so hard for. I shattered your ideals because they were in my way, and in the end, I rendered you helpless and unwanted."

He stood up, rising to his fullest height he could manage with his injuries. "I came to tell you that as of now, I'm done. Everything I tried, I failed. Even when I tried to kill myself and rid the world of my presence, it didn't work. Now I am both Immortal and utterly dead." Now he took off his uniform and cloak and grabbed the Black Knights uniform, marked for a private, that he had gotten from one of the soldiers who told him about this place. When it was completely on, and he now looked like a Black Knight private with a very bloodied face and hands, he continued.

"My only request is that you take me. Let me be your subordinate. I will fight on the front lines. I will be a mechanic. I would be an accountant if it would allow me to help you." He got on his hands and knees. "Please, I beg of you. Find it in yourselves to forgive me."

He didn't look up. There was complete silence. Then there was an arm around him.

"Ni-san," Nunnally said through the comforting embrace, "_I _forgive you."

[Change of point of view]

The monitor flashed red again.

All through the day he had practiced unceasingly with his new mobile suit, Gundam Radia X. He and Feldt had stayed up together to wait for the impending announcement. She had assured him that she would still be going as a member of the crew of the Ptolemaios. That had comforted him, knowing she would be with him for whatever was going to happen.

Sumeragi's face appeared, just like last night. This time, though, her voice came through the colony's speakers.

"All Gundam Meisters report to your mobile suits. Crew of the Ptolemaios, report to hanger C3806. All support staff, the colony will be returning to active duty, so switch your schedules to take account for such. Over and out."

Setsuna looked to Feldt. The hugged quickly, then walked to the door. There they turned their separate ways and reported to their stations, where they knew instructions would be waiting for them.

Setsuna reflected briefly on the last fifteen years of his life. Then he stopped himself and remembered his life before that. His years in the Holy War.

His duty was not done yet. Break time was over.

[Change of point of view]

Ryuk looked at where he had left Light. Something _had _gone wrong. Light's corpse wasn't here. He might, though, know just the person to help…

There were footsteps behind him. Not a big deal. No one could see him anyway.

"Good evening, Ryuk," a voice came.

Ryuk turned around. Then he smiled.

"Good evening, Near."


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Okay, actually, Radia is pronounced "RAH-dee-uh". I meant that, but I accidentally put the stress on the second syllable.

Chapter 3: First Impressions

L.L. shut the water off. What a turnaround. Amazing, He never in his wildest imaginings thought they would be this forgiving.

He looked back on it.

[Flashback]

He looked up at Suzaku. Suzaku looked back, not cruel, not anguished, not condescending, but instead smiling encouragingly.

He looked to Kallen. She still seemed cold, but—maybe he was imagining it but—possibly a little less so. Villetta was still looking at him as if he was a small, dead rodent, but he could never expect everyone to consent.

Nunnally released him and backed up.

"Ni-san, how are you alive?"

He hung his head.

"I told you. I am Immortal. The Geass ran its course on me and its Code was forced upon me. I tried to kill myself, but…"

Villetta muttered something that sounded like "Well, not hard enough."

L.L. straightened. "Viceroy," he said to Nunnally, then turned to Suzaku, "Sir," he turned to Kallen and Villetta, "Ladies." He held his head up, looking straight. "Please will you accept my humble application into the Black Knights?"

Suzaku and Nunnally threw him horrified looks and his heart sank. Then Suzaku answered.

"Lelouch, we can't afford to have you as a subordinate." He paused. "We need a competent commander. I still have your Zero costume."

L.L. was shocked. "Me? I destroyed you. I clouded your vision and couldn't see how vile I was being until it was too late."

Suzaku smiled. "Lelouch, I think you probably see clearer than any of us." Then he added, in that friendly-mocking kind of way, "and that you don't believe a word of what you just said!"

L.L. was shocked into a smile. Suzaku was treating him just as he normally did.

Then Kallen spoke up. "Only if he's under armed guard."

Nunnally and Suzaku stared at her, agast. L.L. smiled, relieved. If that was the extent of her distain, he had gotten off easily.

"All right." He agreed.

Nunnally clapped her hands. "We can wait to discuss this until later. Ni-san, go was the blood off yourself, we have a shower. I'll find you some clothes. Suzaku, could you find the Zero costume? Then we can work out the details."

[End of Flashback]

L.L. smiled. They had been much more empathetic than he himself would have been. He had to remember that.

[Change of point of view]

Light reclined against the bench. He was beginning to get small respites from his power. He was already learning about it.

For instance, as long as he could see someone's eyes, he would get information. He could see through recorded television shows, if he could see the actor's eyes. Apparently, there was no distance limit. If he looked through binoculars at someone, if he could see their eyes, he could see their sins. Even at miles of distance.

He knew to avoid mirrors.

He also knew how to exploit this ability. It had come to him as he awoke from his self-induced unconsciousness, that no man would want to endure this, and would give anything to avoid it. If he could torture them with the knowledge of exactly how evil they were, who would defy him? Not only that, but those who were beyond caring he could blackmail. And of course there was always the tidbits of information he could gain just by knowing everything about these things. For instance, now, due to his interaction with that accountant, he knew who the most powerful Mafia boss in the city was and where he could find him.

With this view, his power _was _a gift. It was exactly what he wanted; the ability to lay judgment upon those who were unworthy of life, and have a means of torture heinous enough to deal with them.

He stood up. There was nothing he couldn't do now. So, he strode right into the headquarters of the crime lord he had chosen to be his slave.

[Change of point of view]

Setsuna looked down at the Earth. It looked the same. It was still round, was still blue. Its continents were still in their proper places. The solar rings still orbited quietly. Could this planet really be so different than the one he left behind fifteen years ago?

The journey had taken over ten hours, shortened due to the CBS-96 Ptolemaios III's warped way of using GN particles. With pre-Gundam technology, it would have taken weeks.

He stepped back from the porthole.

"It feels good to be back after so long, doesn't it?" came Lyle's voice from behind him.

Setsuna looked around. Lyle was leaning calmly against the wall.

"It seems…inevitable." Setsuna replied softly.

Lyle snorted. "Yeah, right. Because we're supreme priorities of fate."

Setsuna turned away. "You seem to underestimate our importance."

Lyle shrugged. "I think when we land, we're in for a bit of a surprise about what the world will be like. There's no way Tieria Erde could have seen _everything._"

"Are you two having one of your subtle little arguments?" came Rie's voice.

Rie Nakamura was a more recent addition to the Ptolemaios Gundam Meisters. She piloted the Gundam Valkyrie, one of the three highly experimental mobile suits. She wasn't much older than Setsuna was when he began piloting Gundam Exia. She had been hand selected from the colony, and had been piloting her Gundam since age ten. Rie was a bit short with bright red hair and green eyes, and no sense of respect for her betters. From the get-go, she had bantered readily with Lockon, Setsuna, and even Ms. Sumeragi. She was bouncing down the corridor with her usual energy.

"Sumeragi wants us all in the Strategy Room." She jabbed her thumb behind her, then continued skipping in the opposite direction, apparently intending to ignore Sumeragi's orders.

When Lyle and Sumeragi and got to the Strategy Room, Tieria Erde was there in person, along with Akira Yamada, Jacob S. Maccabo, and Mariell Quince. All three were recent additions to the team of Gundam Meisters. The rest of the Ptolemaios crew—Ciola Marias, Mileina Vashtl and her parents, Linda and Ian, Feldt, and Sumeragi. The only one missing was Rie.

"It looks like everyone is here." Sumeragi said as they came in.

"Except Rie." Feldt commented. She had taken it upon herself to be a bit of a mentor to Rie, by extension making Setsuna her mentor too.

Everyone chuckled a bit. If Rie was going to show up, she would. If not, nothing could make her.

Tieria Erde began. "Well, it looks like through simple trial and error, the Britannian Empire managed to synchronize two solar furnaces."

This new information shocked everyone. Only fifteen years ago, that had been revolutionary technology that only barely worked, and now it was in enemy hands.

"Not only that," Tieria Erde continued, "but they didn't stop there. Apparently the Empire believed more is better, and began to design Mobile Suits—which are now more commonly called Knightmare Frames—that would house three, four, or even more synchronized GN drives. Their current ninth generation Mobile Suits are entirely based around an eight-drive system. I haven't been briefed on our technological status, but I can't figure out how we can best these, unless we've got nine-drive or more Mobile Suits."

Setsuna nodded absently. They _did _have better technology, if it worked, but that wasn't his real concern. Even if it did work, they had at best three Gundam of that level. How could they stand against an entire empire?

"However, in the chaos left by their Emperor's death, I think I have an idea of what should be done. There is one organization I think we can trust. They call themselves the Black Knights…"

[Change of point of view]

"You really want me to single-handedly take over the empire and return it to order, all anonymously, alone?"

Kallen scowled. "Don't try to pull that one. You did it once, you can do it again. If not, then we can throw your sorry Immortal ass to the public. See what they'll do to you."

L.L. was back in the conference room, now wearing his familiar Zero costume. Suzaku and Kallen were explaining what they expected of him if he were to return to his position.

Suzaku reassured him. "Don't worry, we have total faith in you. Now, your identity will have to remain hidden. Many in the Black Knights would like your blood even more than the public. The only thing subduing some of them is the knowledge that you are already dead. So if we are to maintain peace, you must pretend you are a different person."

L.L. nodded thoughtfully. After a moment he spoke. "We need to protect your identity too."

Everyone in the room looked puzzled.

L.L. explained. "The Black Knights wouldn't know this as well, but you were my Knight. If someone higher up in the Empire, like Guinevere or Odysseus, were to find that you were suddenly working directly for Zero, they might work out who I was."

The room was silent. Then Suzaku said, "See, Lelouch, we need a leader with foresight like that. Had you not brought that up, we would have missed it and possibly ruined the entire plan."

The communication screen suddenly flickering to life interrupted L.L.'s answer. He grabbed for his helmet and just barely managed to put it on before a face appeared, two, actually. The first was a man about 35 years old with shoulder length purple hair. The other was a woman a bit older with long brown hair. They appeared to be in a room with white metal walls a large black circle in the center.

"Who are you?" L.L. asked calmly, refusing to show surprise.

The man with purple hair only smiled coyly. "Her name is Sumeragi, mine is Tieria. That isn't why we're important though."

L.L. hissed quietly with annoyance. "Then let me rephrase that." He raised his hand and began ticking things off on his fingers. "First; how did you get this number, second; who are you, third; why should I care, and fourth; what do you want out of it?"

The man smiled again and raised his hand in an imitation of L.L. "First; I'm connected to the most powerful computer in existence. I can get any number. The second and third I can do in one sentence; we are a little organization that likes to call ourselves Celestial Being, have you heard of us?"

L.L. was shocked. Celestial Being? There were rumors of an organization existed fifteen years ago that called itself that, before the Empire's rise, that had intensions not far from L.L.'s own. They had just been rumors though. If an organization like that _had _existed, they would have stopped the Empire, so the fact that they didn't meant that they couldn't have existed.

Before he could protest, thought, the man continued. "As for the fourth, well, we think we might be able to help you."

L.L. looked at the screen. Celestial Being was said to have technology beyond anything humanity had seen. If that was true, and this really was Celestial Being, his work was going to be a lot easier.

"I think we could work something out." He replied.

[Change of point of view]

"You never touched his body?"

Near shook his head. "I believe something else is afoot."

Ryuk looked at him, puzzled.

"What do you mean?"

Near turned to him and said very seriously, "I believe there may be another supernatural entity in this game."

"What?"

"Yes," Near said, looking towards Main Street, still cordoned off by the police for what had happened just two days ago. "And I may know just where to find it…"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Crossroads

L.L. checked the time display. It was still about ten minutes early. When would they get here?

It had been a week since he woke up from his deathbed. Since then, he had done nothing but plotting and planning, aside from preparing for the scheduled meeting with 'Celestial Being'. None of his plans got terribly far, as his strategy would depend upon how much power Celestial Being could provide.

His opponents in this game would be his three eldest siblings, Odysseus, Guinevere, and Schneizel. Schneizel would be the easiest, as Lelouch had put a permanent Geass Command on him to "obey Zero". Odysseus and Guinevere would be more difficult. Apparently, with Lelouch supposedly dead, their Geass Commands to accept him as Emperor were released. Without the Geass's control over them, he had no direct advantage. But if he could get his hands on the Gundam…

A soldier came in.

"Lord Zero! We've detected an incoming airship!"

"From where?" L.L. inquired. It would be interesting to know where Celestial Being was based.

The officer appeared confused. "Um…from…up, sir."

Up? L.L. thought. Space travel had been abandoned by the Empire as a waste of resources. But of course, Celestial Being was formed before the creation of Britannia, and so still made use of space. It explained where they had hidden for fifteen years.

"Prepare the Knightmares."

The soldier saluted and hurried off. L.L. activated the viewing screen.

On the screen a shape appeared. It began to grow until it was distinguishable as ship with a large, pointed front, which curved back in the middle and then sloped outward to the engines in back. It formed an hourglass shape. In the front section was a large ring of small, fighter-grade hanger bays.

As it came into view, from the aircraft carrier L.L. was on, a small cloud of knightmares appeared, flying towards the ship, guns firing.

After a few moments, the ring of hangers rotated, and from each one a Knightmare appeared. The Black Knights had sent a small army against them, but Celestial Being only released six knightmare frames.

L.L. watched each one in turn. The first three had a fairly uniform design—proportions almost the same as a human, but with a slightly smaller head and thicker and boxier limbs. They were painted in fairly uniform schemes, one orange and white, one in green and white, and one in blue and white. The only visible functional variation was a difference in weaponry. The blue wielded two small guns, the orange a long rifle, and the green a large sword. They looked a bit like stylized Sutherlands or Glassglows. Their appearance belied their capability, though. As L.L. watched, dozens and dozens of the Black Knight's knightmares fell to these three. They would be a valuable resource, and their pilots seemed very skilled also.

However, it was the other three that drew L.L.'s attention. These appeared very different and quite specialized. The first L.L. observed was a knightmare of a pale green. It was shaped in beams and swoops not unlike the patterns made by it's generators. L.L. took note that all the knighmares released pale green auras, which, from his research, were the G.N. particles. Britannian technology had engineered their knightmares to make these auras invisible, so as not to broadcast their position. Celestial Being seemed to make use of the auras. In the one he was watching, the shapes of the aura would linger in the air. The knightmare was painted so cleverly, it was difficult to pick it out from the shapes in it's own aura. In some cases, the particles formed almost perfect images of it, drawing fire away from the true machine. It fought with devastating effectiveness with a rifle, that it would fire into the confusion caused by its decoys.

The second one he saw was formed with points and spikes running over the joints. Its head tapered into something beak-shaped, giving a strange bird-like effect. It had an odd, blood red aura that emanated like a pair of wings on the side and a large feathered tail at the bottom. It fought with a lance, which, again, was devastatingly effective as it swooped seemingly randomly through the cloud.

The third was pure white. It had a sleek, curved design and its limbs seemed thinner, although in places they were actually thicker, but the swoops inward would compensate. It wielded two long swords. At first, L.L. had trouble figuring out what its specialization was. Then he noticed that its aura seemed not to come from certain spots, but radiate from its entire body. The advantage seemed minimal until L.L. saw that it could direct the aura; use it to fire a Hadron cannon-like blast of pale green from its sword, or move almost faster than sight could follow by directing all aura to the direction opposite his desired direction of travel.

Within seconds, the knightmares L.L. had sent at Celestial Being were reduced to nothing but scrap metal sinking to the bottom of the sea.

L.L., however, was pleased. Not only was this _the _Celestial Being, but it was also much more powerful than he could've hoped. This was going to be easier than he thought.

Suddenly the screen changed. Now it showed the face of the woman he saw during their first communication—Sumeragi, he remembered.

"I assume you have an explanation?" She said coldly.

L.L. merely smiled superiorly, even though she couldn't see it under his mask. "I merely had to test the capabilities of your knightmares—Gundam, I believe you call them. If I told you beforehand that I would attack you, you would have prepared some impressive maneuver to eliminate my fighters. This way, I would only see the raw power of your machines. And if you were worried, they were all unmanned. I put in computers programmed to do nothing but advance and fire on incoming fighters."

The woman appeared unconsoled. "Well, if that is true then we might still be able to work an agreement out. But, you will come to us. You can bring whoever you want, but we conduct the negotiations aboard the Ptolemaios."

L.L. nodded an affirmative. Then the screen went black.

"All right," he said to himself, "time to set my plan into motion."

[Change of point of view]

Light tapped his fingers impatiently. Where was that fool? He had told him to bribe someone for an invitation to a banquet that was to be held in a week by the Britannian Viceroy.

A lot had changed in the last week, and it had all been because of that moment.

He looked back on it

[Flashback]

He stepped into the warehouse.

There were quite a few guards. None of them were moving; they were trying to figure out why a kid like him would walk calmly into a Mafia HQ. As they stood stock still, Light scanned their eyes.

One of them raised their rifle, recovering from the shock of someone so callously ignoring them. As he did though, Light muttered a single word.

"Ralph"

At this the man fell down screaming and writhing. Light knew he was remembering the time when he stole his neighbor's dog—Ralph—and, out of spite, cut him apart and dropped the pieces in front of the neighbor's door one day. The man had never been able to really recover from that one action, and was probably now reliving the whimpers and cries of the dog as he cut him up.

Light found this interesting. Not only could he see someone's sins, he could make them see their own sins by uttering trigger words. He had learned from experience how horrible the sight of your own sins was.

So in this way Light proceeded to walk calmly through the warehouse, which was gradually becoming a sea of writhing limbs as he muttered seemingly random words:

"California"

"Sarah"

"Refrain"

"Tomorrow"

"Worthless"

"Incriminating"

Soon, he was the only one left standing, the rest lying on the ground, stuck in memories of their worst sins. He strode across the building floor, stepping around the bodies. He opened the door to the crime lord's room.

"Hello." He remarked coolly.

The man had seen what he had done to his guards, though, like most, couldn't hear his words. He was cowering in fear in the corner; sure this man was some kind of sorcerer or demon.

Light leaned forward. "Don't worry, I have no intention of doing that to _you,_" then he added, as an afterthought, "yet."

The man was not reassured.

"Look," Light explained, "I have something I want done. If I debilitated you, how would that ever happen?"

The man seemed a little comforted by this.

"I'll make a deal with you," Light went on, "I'll only come in here every other day. In return for not torturing you or your men, you will get me the things I ask you to get me. Deal?"

The man considered this. A deal was something he was much more familiar with. If a man of this much power wanted an object, he could walk right in and get it, there was no need for a middleman. He must, then, have something to gain by using him, but what could it be? Did it really matter? The crime lord would do anything to keep him from returning, and it _would _buy him a little time…

"Deal." The man said gruffly.

[End of flashback]

In the week since, Light had used the crime lord—who's name turned out to be Domovoi—to get quite a few things. About half the gang's stockpiled cash, for instance. And more importantly, an invitation to this party to celebrate the reestablishment of the true Britannian Empire and the instatement of the new Viceroy of Area 11. From there, Light could begin his takeover of Britannia and ultimately, the world.

The door to the warehouse office opened. Domovoi came in and dropped to the floor. He had a ridiculous habit to bow to Light when he entered, a habit Light wasn't about to dissuade.

"Did you get it?"

"Yes, your Exaltedness," another habit he had gotten into that Light was not unhappy with, "your alias's name is on the guest list." Domovoi passed him a gold leaf trimmed card. On it were the words "You are hereby cordially invited to the celebration of the recommencement of the Holy Britannia Empire and the instatement of the new Viceroy of Area 11" below that was a list of times and the address.

Light couldn't contain his smile, then a chuckle, and finally hysterical laughing that rang through the warehouse.

[Change of point of view]

L.L. strode into Suzaku's room.

"Suzaku! Get your mask on! We're moving the meeting to their ship."

"Is that a good idea?"

"There's no way they would harm me. And no reason. We need their help. Get Kallen and tell her to put on her mask. Hurry."

A few minutes later, six Black Knights were gathered on the deck C.C.—no, he had to start thinking of her as Cecil now—was wearing the same uniform he had found her in, but with a Black Knight visor over her eyes. Todo wore his Japanese Liberation Front uniform with a traditional Japanese mask. Kallen wore a high altitude pilot's helmet with a tinted face-shield. L.L. wore his Zero armor, and Suzaku wore his new armor, a white Britannian dress uniform and a white cape with shoulder spikes. Over his face he wore a sleek mask made of uniform metal that was reflective from the outside but clear on the inside, and the only marks on it were the seams where the facemask could retract and fold over itself to let the mask be removed.

Celestial Being's ship—the Ptolemaios—was floating in the ocean, and as the boarding ramp retracted, Zero strode across the deck to begin step one of his plan.

[Change of point of view]

Somehow, Sumeragi managed to get everyone, including Rie onto the Strategy Room, though that may have just been because she was curious about the man who called himself Zero.

The outer door opened and six people came in dressed in various impressive uniforms, most of which covered their faces. The two most prominent were the man in the white military uniform and the reflective mask, and the one in black—Zero.

Sumeragi stepped up and they shook hands.

Zero spread his arm out. He gestured to the man in the strange uniform and a traditional looking mask. "This is Four." Then he pointed to the woman in the uniform that resembled the gundam meisters but red with a pure black face shield. "This is Three" Then he singled out the woman with green hair, a white skintight jumpsuit, and a black visor, "This is Two" next he pointed to the man next to him, the man in white "This is One," finally he gestured to himself and said, "and I am Zero."

Setsuna almost laughed at the cheesiness of it. Four, Three, Two, One, and Zero? Couldn't this man, who was reported to be a genius, come up with something more imaginative?

Sumeragi must have been bursting at the seems, but somehow she held in her amusement.

"Zero, welcome to our humble base of operations. If you'll wait a moment, I'll get Tieria Erde. She left the room.

Setsuna smiled. If this Zero thought he had impressed them, than it was their turn.

The lights dimmed and from the veiwport came an image of a man. Tieria Erde appeared.

Zero seemed a bit put off. "I was under the impression that we would be doing everything in person."

Tieria chuckled.

"I _am _here in person. Hard to understand? Well I _am _the computer. Our database contains me. I'm dead. Through the computer, I have been given immortality."

Strangely enough, though, this didn't appear to awe Zero. In fact, he and his 'numbers' were…chuckling. Everyone looked at them quizzically.

Zero regained his composure. "I am sorry. What you said just seemed so…ironic to us. Please, continue."

Tieria deinflated a little at this. "We believe that we share similar goals, at least for the time being. Once you have succeeded and created a new nation, then we may be at odds with each other, but for the time being, we have a common goal. Thus, I propose we have occasional joint operations, and we, when necessary lend each other units and pilots and exchange information regularly, so as to maintain optimal efficiency for each organization—"

"No." Zero interrupter coolly, but forcefully. "That is not acceptable."

Setsuna was surprised and a bit angered by this. If the Black Knights didn't want to help them, then why would they bother agreeing to this meeting?

Zero explained. "We must not just help each other, we must become a single entity. That is why the Black Knights are offering to disband and become a part of Celestial Being."

The Ptolemaios crew was shocked. Tieria opened his mouth, to accept graciously, Setsuna guessed, when Zero cut him off to continue.

"On a few conditions. First of all, I must become the leader of Celestial Being."

Setsuna, along with the rest of the crew, cried out in protest. Who did he think he was to come in and try and assume leadership?

"Wait!" He held a hand up to calm them. "Your officers may retain command of whatever they do. I merely would like a higher position."

Tieria practically snarled at the audacity of the man. "We have no position of leadership in Celestial Being."

Zero seemed to consider it. "Fine then, give me the position of strategist, and," he held his hand up as everyone be nearly rushed at him in anger. Who did he think he was, trying to take the place of Sumeragi? Setsuna thought. "-and if you already have strategist, let me be upon a _council _of strategists."

Setsuna was a bit consoled by that.

"Also, I would like three more Gundam produced, ones like your three most powerful., for my Numbers."

This seemed more reasonable, Setsuna thought. He would have to deal with someone else piloting an identical Mobile Suit as him, but as long as their goals correlated, that would be a small enough problem.

"And finally, I would like you to send your head engineer to or research lab, along with your information on how you make your Knightmares. Together with our research specialists, they will work on a Knightmare custom fitted for our top pilots, and one for me."

Setsuna was a little angry at the man, but his requests, though arrogant, seemed reasonable.

Sumeragi came back into the room. There was a tense moment, then she said, "As long as this arrangement may be terminated at a time of our choosing."

"Of course." Zero replied. "Now, if you excuse me, I will announce to our men that they are now a part of Celestial Being."

"Yes," Sumeragi replied, "I believe we'll both have to spend some time getting use to each other."

Zero and his "Numbers" left the ship and the members of Celestial Being let out a breath. With a man like him, they were going to have to watch their back.

[Change of point of view]

"Did you find anything?" Ryuk demanded

"Yes, I did." Near answered.

They had met on the same wharf they had left Light on.

"When I first saw the man Zero on the news, I felt something was wrong, however, I had no time to reason it out, as I had my own projects. But now that I look at it, I've found quite a few strange things. For instance, if Zero had found a gas tank in the Shinjuku ghetto, the one that he detonated to rescue Suzaku Kururugi, where did the gas go? That wasn't anything but smoke during the rescue, and there were no terrorism reports between those two times, so it couldn't have held gas. And if that's true, what really was in it. Having seen it, it looks more like a bio-containment unit. And with the knowledge that Lelouch vi Britannia had supernatural help points out how many strange scenarios he got out of, people who obeyed him, and devices he had."

"You really believe that the Black Knights had a Shinigami ally?" Ryuk asked.

"Not Shinigami, no, but something." Near replied. "And I think we will have to talk to Zero himself to find out."


	5. Chapter 5

Author's note:

Sorry about the chapter mix-up. I was in a hurry and wasn't paying attention.

This one is the right one.

Chapter 5: "Let us begin."

Sumeragi had organized them all in the strategy room—except for Rie, of course—and was giving them a final speech.

"Okay, guys, this is it. Our first mission with the Black Knights. Remember, you are now working in strict tactical procedures, so there can be no running off and attacking someone. If you're told to break away, it doesn't matter if you could crush them in just a few seconds, you need to break away. You may be needed somewhere else within those few seconds." She cleared her throat. "I know you all dislike taking orders from Zero, however, we do have an agreement with him. You'll be relived to know that only half of you will be under direct command of Zero." She turned to Akira, Jacob, and Mariell. "You guys apparently aren't interesting enough to earn unique positions in the plan. Congratulations, you don't have to listen to his voice for the rest of the day. And the rest of you," She looked at Lockon especially, "I want you to be very careful. He is going to give you some complex orders that may sound like deathtraps. I talked to some of his Black Knights, and they assured me that they probably weren't. That said, I'm not so confident. If it looks like you are about to be taken down, or another Gundam Meister is, don't hesitate to disobey his orders. Gundam Meisters are by far more valuable than an alliance with Zero."

Then she turned around and began to explain Zero's scheme.

[Change of point of view]

L.L. took off his helmet. It was almost time to begin his first operation as leader of Celestial Being. He looked back on that first meeting. He had intended to use Geass on them, but something, like a voice in his head said, "Weren't you trying to be more humble? How is seizing the mind of and possible advisers and conquering a group called 'Celestial Being' humble?" he had almost staggered back. The voice-conscience thing had been right. Sumeragi-san had been very helpful in the formation of his first strike. Tieria Erde, too, however annoying he had been, had been very helpful, running simulations on the miraculous 'Veda'. L.L. would have to remember to study that sometime.

A buzzer went off and there was a voice.

"Sumeragi-san has contacted us to say they're in position. We're all ready, we're just waiting for you to give the signal." Said Suzaku.

L.L. put his helmet on and pressed the button on the keyboard that broadcasted to all troops.

"This is your commander giving you the all clear to go." He switched to the selective broadcast that transmitted to the three special Gundam Meisters and his 'Numbers'' "Now," he said to them, "let us begin."

[Change of point of view]

It was a masquerade. How stupid! The new viceroy was practically inviting assassination. Not that it was bad for Light. In fact it made it very easy.

It was four o'clock in the evening, and Light had just got into the party. It would last until about twelve, but Light really only needed a few minutes to do what he came for.

He had come in a pure white cashmere tux with a black dress shirt underneath. For the masquerade part, he had commissioned a custom mask. It, too, was pure white and held the countenance of child with a somber expression. The only color was on the right cheek, where a single, blood red tear streak ran down the mask. All in all, the effect was quite disturbing—exactly what Light wanted. He also had an unoriginal, cheap, glittery mask in the basic masquerade style in his pocket. This, however, was for later.

In the middle of the floor was a large crowd of people. In the center was the man he wanted: the new viceroy of Area 11. It was going to be a bit difficult to get him alone, but he would manage. He took a step and said to himself, "Time to begin."

[Change of point of view]

Gino Weinberg was still locked in the high security cell. Apparently, the Holy Britannian Empire had been re-established. Schneizel should have been able to get him out. He and Anya had been his _supporters_, shouldn't they be released? The prison, though, seemed to be under some other authority, though whose, he couldn't guess.

Suddenly there was a low rumble. His guards looked around, confused. The entire prison, a solid concrete slab more than forty floors high, was shaking. Red warning lights and sirens were going off. A knightmare rumbled down the huge hall lined with cells.

Something was happening. Something impressive.

He leaned to the wall to his left, speaking to Anya, in the cell next to his. "What do you think, prison break?"

She merely gave a puzzled "mm" to say she didn't know. Conversation with her was always rather uninteresting.

Suddenly, in front of them was a pale green knightmare unlike any he had ever seen. From a shape in the back came a small aura of the same color as the knightmare.

The knightmare's pilot spoke. "You two are the Knights of the Round?" The voice was incredibly loud through the speakers of the Knightmare. They nodded yes.

The knightmare smashed it's hands through the doors and then held them flat for the two to climb into.

"Well, from what I've been told, we're here to break you out. Climb on."

The pilot sounded young, Gino mused as he made his way up onto the offered hand. He seemed a bit like Gino himself.

Once they had crawled on, the pilot moved them to he shoulder and then sped back down the hallway. From the strange generator, the aura seemed to intensify, almost solidifying, in shapes that looked much like the knightmare itself. Gino understood the tactic, as the guards would fire a bit behind the machine every time, aiming for one of the decoys. It was clever.

Suddenly they burst out into daylight, and Gino looked back to see a hole in the cement wall. His eyes caught something bright red, and he looked up to see another knightmare, birdlike, with a bright red aura shaped a bird's wings. They had drawn the attention of most of the guard's knighmares. None were watching as the strange green knightmare flew off.

Suddenly there was an explosion. Something in the prison had blown up, killing everything inside and reducing the walls to dust. The shockwave shattered most of the knightmares in the air above it, but the red-aura-ed one was completely unphased, as though nothing had happened, even while it's opponents' knightmares were thrown back. It merely swooped around, running the now disoriented guards through with its large lance.

Gino grimaced. This was the work of someone very intelligent, very ruthless, and very important. That left about, well, everyone he knew.

[Change of point of view]

Light had almost gotten through the crowd when suddenly the entertainment screens were all interrupted. A news anchor appeared.

"We interrupt our usually scheduled programming to alert the public to the recent terrorist attempt on the Smithson Prison."

The screens switched to footage of a tall grey structure, apparently the prison. Suddenly, two knightmares appeared. One had huge, blood-red wings, and the other was green and seemed to shift and fade. The winged one just hovered above the prison, drawing guards and getting into an occasional sortie. The other flew behind the massive slab and was lost from view.

Light turned away. This was perfect. If he could just get close when no one was looking…

He slid through the crowd, only picking up the occasional words from the broadcast. Soon he was right next to the new Viceroy, a slightly portly man with very little hair. Before Light could lean down to whisper in his ear, though, the man began screaming.

"Turn it off! Get it off now!"

Staff started gathering around the screens reaching for the off buttons.

"Don't let them see it! Don't—"

It was too late. Before anyone could deactivate a screen, there was a flash onscreen, and a large blast, and the prison crumbled, killing all the prisoners inside, and scattering the remaining guards, leaving the red-winged knightmare to pick them off easily.

The anchor was already making conclusions. "calculated act of terrorism…suicidal bombers…anarchists…" were some of the words Light heard.

He knew better. The Viceroy obviously knew something that would harm his image. He was looking around guiltily, though no one, but Light seemed to have made the connection. That bomb wasn't set by the terrorists, no, then he would want it to be shown. That bomb had to be an emergency protocol in the prison, killing everyone in it if anyone got too close to escaping.

He grinned and leaned down to the Viceroy.

"Now, let's go somewhere private, before I let the public know that you authorized the killing of thirteen thousand criminals for nothing more than being in the wrong place." He used his power to learn the details. He added as an afterthought, "A bit like that Kira character you hate so much."

The man paled. Light knew he knew his career, and in a position with the history of violence that his had, possibly his life, was in danger. He was trembling a bit, but managed to nod nervously.

"Good," Light said, "I'll lead the way."

[Change of point of view]

The room was massive and impressive looking. Setsuna didn't even realize an undercover organization could get this much space. Zero and his Numbers were aligned in front of the camera, with the rest of what used to be the Black Knights in formation behind him. On the other side of the room, Setsuna was in front of a different camera. The cameraman was counting down on his fingers the time until they went on air.

3

2

1

Setsuna took in a breath, and began his practiced declaration.

[Change of point of view]

Light was walking out if the room, right behind the new Viceroy, prodding him in the back to direct him where to go, when the scene on the viewscreens changed.

Cutting off the news coverage was a scene of a man in a knightmare pilot's suit. It was pure white, and strangely enough, it had a seal around the neck, as if a helmet could be added and the whole thing would be airtight for some reason. It had been years since any form of space travel had been used.

The man had thick, brown hair and looked as if he may have come from Area 18, the former Middle East.

"My name," the man said, "is Setsuna. Setsuna F. Seiei."

Some people's eyes widened. A few took an involuntary step back. But most of the people in the crowd didn't have any reaction to that name. Light began to prod the Viceroy to continue forward.

"To some, that name will be familiar, especially in what you call 'Area 18'. I am one of the last surviving pilots of Celestial Being."

Gasps were audible throughout the room. Even Light froze at that. Celestial Being? He only vaguely remembered it, in hushed and scared whispers from his parents years ago. But the memory seemed cloudy, like something was impairing it.

"We promised to return when the world showed sings of reverting to its brutish ways. When the Holy Britannian Empire conquered much of the world, we believed it could be for the better. Then when it proved not so, the Black Knights arose, rendering our position unnecessary. But now the Black Knights are diminished, and the Empire seeks to regain what they lost under the rule of your last Emperor, Lelouch vi Britannia. And so we return. We declare war on all who wish to conquer and rule by force."

Light almost laughed. He did remember something vaguely about Celestial Being: they had been decimated. In the end, they had been destroyed and gimped off to space to die. All the shit about not _deciding _to come was merely lies. Light turned to continue out.

"If you do not believe that we have enough power to challenge the Empire, this broadcast is to insure you we do. Zero?"

The camera switched. Now it was on an impressive force of men and women, standing in front of a mass of knightmares. All wore the same design of uniform, white with a swirl of color, different for every block of people. Light could guess what the meant. They were color codes. One for strategists, one for analysts, and a different one for each rank of soldier. It was, Light assumed, the new Celestial Being uniform.

The real surprise came up front. There were five people there, all in masks and elaborate uniforms. The two most striking were the one in white with a sleek, mirrored helmet, and the one that was unmistakably Zero Requiem.

Zero spoke. "Yes, I am here to announce that the Black Knights are no more. We have humbly given ourselves to Celestial Being. Together, the mighty will tremble. We will bring down cities if we must. We fight for justice. Come join us, all the weak and downtrodden. We will build this world anew!"

The screens went black. A moment later, the new came back, and after a moment began to speak in nervous tones about the broadcast.

The room was silent. Celestial Being had returned? It seemed almost comical, but for the fact that Zero—who apparently wasn't Lelouch Lamperouge—had joined them. It was enough to make the most loyal Britannian citizen think about defecting.

Suddenly anarchy broke out. People were screaming, rushing for the doors. In the chaos, the Viceroy managed to escape Light. Light knew it didn't matter. If chaos like this was returning to Area 11, there would be more important people here than that sniveling paper-pusher of a Viceroy. Much more important people here indeed.

[Change of point of view]

"This man," Near said as Zero announced his intentions, "acts almost the same as the original. With the knowledge that Zero—Lelouch vi Britannia that is—had possibly had help from supernatural entities, and that his body went missing from the site only minutes after, suggest that it could be possible that Zero is _still _Lelouch Lamperouge."

The shinigami turned to him. "But didn't _Zero_ kill the Emperor?"

"Yes," Near replied, "but decoys could be used. Remember Light using Mikami? It would stand to reason he could do something like that to allow suspicion to be drawn away from. The question is what would he gain? I believe we will find that out when we learn a bit more about this paranormal benifactor."

"How will we do that?"

Near smiled then. "Well, I recognize that warehouse they're in. I believe we could just go in and talk to them."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

Prince Schneizel el Britannia watched with vague amusement as the man that called himself Zero announced his assimilation into Celestial Being. It was pitiful, really. They called themselves Zero, then showed themselves to be someone as meek and malleable as this. Oh no, this _wasn't_ Zero, he just called himself Zero.

And his order was to obey _Zero_. Heh.

Nevertheless, if Celestial Being had enough strength to come _back_, the he supposed he would have to at least go to Area 11 and do them the courtesy of crushing them himself. It would be an insult to his brother if he didn't.

Schneizel smiled. It would be like a vacation.

[Change of point of view]

The light on the camera went out and L.L. turned to his troops.

"I thank you all for volunteering to take part in this broadcast." He told them. His recent revelation made him realize that he shouldn't take their participation for granted.

A door slid open.

"Lord Zero, there is a boy here that insists that he needs to give you information you would find…interesting."

L.L. looked at him. "What information?"

"I dunno. That's just how he described it."

A moment of consideration. "Fine, bring him in."

Two guards came in, standing on either side of a boy with white hair and strange, over-dilated pupils. But that wasn't what L.L. thought was strange.

Floating beside the boy was a large, hunchback man with filed teeth and huge, bulbous eyes. He looked like he had been a clown twenty years ago, and he had forgotten to wash off the makeup since. His hair was dark and spiky, almost indistinguishable from the sickly looking wings he had. His hands and feet were curved in talons. He was almost a perfect picture of horror.

L.L. took an involuntary step back. Suzaku glanced at him. "Do you recognize this boy?"

L.L. was flabbergasted. The boy? What about the demon at his shoulder? Everybody looked at the boy as if the demon wasn't even there, as if…

And then L.L. got it. He was there, but that just didn't mean they could see him. L.L. collected himself and noticed that this boy and the demon seemed almost as startled by his reaction as he was by their appearance. Could it possibly be that they didn't realize that he could see them?

"No," he told Suzaku, determined to keep his voice steady, "I have no idea who he is."

The boy smiled slyly. "Oh, but I think I know _exactly_ who you are, Zero."

L.L. wondered at this. Could it be that he _had _guessed who he was?

"What is this information you must tell me?" he asked.

"I think you would rather we discuss this in private." He replied.

L.L. looked at him. He could be an assassin. Then again, if he really did know his identity…

He turned to Kallen, Suzaku, and Cecil. "You three, follow me. Four, stay and watch over the area."

He led them to a control room of the warehouse.

The boy glanced at L.L.'s Numbers. "I think you really want this done in private, Zero." The demon kept staring at L.L.

"They know my identity. Anything you need to tell me, they can hear. I don't want to be in a small room with _that_," L.L. pointed at the thing, "alone."

Suzaku and Kallen looked confusedly at the space L.L. was pointing at. Cecil just stood there, trusting L.L. meant something.

"You mean my friend, I assume." He turned to L.L.'s Numbers, to explain. "My friend is a Shinigami. He is only visible to someone who has touched and is in possession of a Death Note. Which is why I am here."

L.L. remembered this boy now. He was chasing Light. How had he made the connection? What flaw had L.L. left behind?

"I am sorry," the boy went on, "I have no information for you. I just need information. My name is Near. I am from the Britannia Domestic Investigation Force. I was in charge of the investigation of the killer Kira. I found that a man called Light was the culprit."

L.L. was a bit startled. Light was Kira? L.L. was right to abandon him. If that…psychopath had learned about his Geass… L.L. shivered at the thought.

Near was still explaining. "We thought we—that is Ryuk here," he gestured at the Shinigami, "and I—had killed him. His body, though, never turned up. More importantly…" he took out a small black book. On the front were the words 'Death Note'. It was a chilling image. "This is a Death Note. It can be given to humans by Shinigami. This is an extra of Ryuk's. It also once belonged to Light. With it, you can kill whoever's name you right in it, as long as you know what their face looks like. It was how Light killed so many criminals. When we shot Light, Ryuk also wrote his name in his own Death Note. It should have killed Kira four minutes afterward. Instead, the name faded from the book. Light was no dead. Something else supernatural must have saved him from this power. I noted then that Lelouch vi Britannia's body went missing hours after his death. And then I remembered that there was something strange about many of Zero's victories. Having previously learned Zero's original identity from my high level of security access, I then wondered if it was possible you had survived the attack and merely had set up a decoy Zero to fake your death. The only way you could have survived, though, would be if you had paranormal help. We believe what ever it is might be helping this criminal live. And if Light is alive, you can be sure he will use whatever it is to go back to killing."

L.L. was horrified. Not only had this _boy _worked out his identity, but he had also discovered the existence of Geass. Who was he?

L.L. responded. "I do remember the killer Kira. I believe I must tell you what you need to know to hunt him down. However, there must be some assurance that you will not betray me to my enemies.

Near smiled. "Then how about this. We will not tell anyone about your 'abilities' as you call them, or your identity, because what would we have to gain? I was created and trained to find criminals. Frankly, I couldn't care less who you are, as long as you aren't a domestic criminal. And Ryuk isn't even of this dimension. What does he care about the identity of one man? And I assure you, whatever your goals are, if they aren't to kill anyone who ever committed a sin, Light will get in your way. Think of it as a way to remove a future obstacle."

L.L. considered this. "Alright. I have been given a power by an Immortal. Her name was C.C. The power is known as the Power of Kings, I call it Geass. For me, it makes anyone obey any one command I give them. However, it could manifest differently in anybody. The Immortals bestow this power—usually—so that they might end their life. Once the power is fully developed, the possessor takes the Immortal's immortality. I was forced to take C.C.'s immortality, forcing me to survive that attack. I had meant for it to kill me, creating a leaderless, unified world. It obviously didn't work. In a moment of panic, I spotted Light running away. He looked clever and smart, so the power wouldn't go to waste. I bestowed it upon him. You followed him, but I commanded you to leave. Then he explained who he was, and a bit about the Death Note and I realized how psychopathic he was. I left him and assumed he would never understand what his power was."

Near looked almost frightened. "You're right. He is very smart. A genius even. If he hasn't already, he will find what the power is." He opened the book. "However, this means that we have no reason not to use this."

He took out a pen. L.L. watched as he slowly formed the words 'Light Yamagi'.

They waited. The name began to fade away.

L.L. was astounded. Almost astounded as the Shinigami.

"You said this would work" He spoke calmly to L.L.

To everyone's surprise, Suzaku was the one to offer an explanation.

"You commanded him to live, didn't you?"

L.L. nodded in response.

"Possibly it carried. Like mine. He may be virtually impossible to kill. Especially with that."

The room was silent.

L.L. looked away. "Then he is my problem. Do not le yourself get caught up in him. I will deal with him."

Near looked doubtful, but turned and left anyway. Just before he did, he turned to L.L. "He'd better die then."

[Change of point of view]

Setsuna watched Zero let the boy in. Strange, wasn't it? It seemed as if there was something about Zero that he didn't want everyone else to know. His identity, for one, but it seemed deeper than that.

This seemed important. He hated to bother Tieria Erde, but it was very strange. He would report it in.

[Change of point of view]

As the shuttle landed, Light began to step forward. The Prince seemed taken aback that anyone would dare approach him before he had addressed them.

Light smiled at that thought. If the Prince felt insulted by that, the just he wait.

When Light finally stepped out into the light, Schneizel was already on the ground, staring indignantly at Light.

"What is the meaning of this? Who are—" he began.

Light was surprised by the force of the word he found, but interrupted his _Highness_'s rant.

"Geass."

When Light had read Schneizel, that word had practically been screamed at him, and that seemed to translate into potency. The Prince was already screaming so hard his voice was getting horse. Light was afraid that he might literally be screaming his throat out. The Prince began to start coughing blood, until soon he collapsed, apparently out cold.

A few guards ran out to try and assist their Prince, but Light used the same words he had learned from them before.

"Ricky,"

"Halloween."

The guards fell too.

Light turned and stalked off, giving orders to two other guards to carry the Prince with him.

Light had found some very interesting information about this power.

It was very informative to know that Zero had possessed this power. The particular version of it reminded Light of the strange L.L. Zero—Lelouch vi Britannia, that is—had been killed.

Unfortunately, Schneizel hadn't known or done enough to give Light any real information about L.L.

Schneizel knew barely anything about Geass at all, in fact.

Light would just have to find someone who did.

He would find L.L., perhaps.


End file.
